Search - Ludwig van Beethoven :: Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartet Op. 59/1; String Quartet Op. 59/3

A World-Class String Quartet You May Never Have Heard Of

J Scott Morrison | Middlebury VT, USA | 10/10/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Vogler Quartet, founded in East Germany in 1985 and with the same personnel throughout its history, is one of the great quartets currently before the public. But they have little renown outside their native country for reasons not known to me. They are a superb ensemble. I had initially thought their name might have derived from Abt Vogler, the fellow who improvised with Beethoven and whom Browning memorialized in a poem. But in fact they are named for their first violinist, Tim Vogler. The other members are Frank Reinecke, violin; Stefan Fehlandt, viola; and Stephan Forck, cello. As it happens, they recorded the first piece on this CD, the first of the Rasumovsky Quartets, Op. 59, No. 1, fifteen years ago, and it was on that recording that I first made their acquaintance. The present performance is crisper, leaner and yet deeper. The quartet was written by Beethoven for Prince Rasumovsky, a fine amateur cellist, and the first theme of the first movement is one of Beethoven's best-known passages for solo cello. Stephan Forck gets things off to a fine start with a heroic performance of that theme.



The playing of the Vogler is notable for their exquisite care given to balance, phrasing and nuance. These players LISTEN to each other. One can hear, for instance, in the second movement of the Op. 59, No. 1's second movement that Tim Vogler varies his recurring statements of the main theme and one then hears the other members of the quartet vary their responses to match his. This quartet is played slightly more slowly, especially in the outer movements, than their earlier recording. This gives the work a sesne of somewhat greater import, something that is somehow managed in spite of their lean sound. Intonation throughout is spectacularly spot on. The technical challenges of the finales, especially of the Op. 59, No. 3, are surmounted with breaking a sweat. A good quartet always makes this particular movement an exciting finish to the Rasumovskys. I would place this performance here as one of the most exciting I've ever heard. Simply marvelous.



I have heard many performances of these quartets -- indeed the Op. 59, No. 1 was my very first Beethoven quartet more than fifty years ago -- and these recordings are among the best I know.



Strongly recommended.



Scott Morrison"